Evernote Raises Prices, Slashes Features Of Free Version

Users of the Basic service now can sync only two devices at a time.

Popular note-taking service Evernote will limit users of its free Basic account to two devices per year and raise prices for its premium service tiers, the company announced today.

Starting today, Evernote Plus monthly subscription costs will rise $1 to $3.99, or $34.99 per year. A Plus or Premium account will be required for users who want to sync their notes across more than two computers, tablets and smartphones.

Evernote Premium, meanwhile, will now cost $7.99 per month, up from $5.99. It adds 10GB of new uploads per month, the ability to annotate and search within PDF files, and a business card scanning tool among other features.

With today's changes, Evernote Basic remains free of charge but loses one of its most compelling features. In addition to the new limit of two synced devices, Basic's upload cap is just 60 MB of new uploads per month. While the size limit doesn't affect users who primarily upload text documents, 60 MB covers just a handful of photos or voice recordings.

One bright spot for Basic users, though, is the ability to use the passcode lock in the mobile app, a feature that was previously restricted to paid accounts.

Evernote said it remained committed to keeping its products free of advertisements, and raising subscription prices would allow it to invest in new features.

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"We don't take any change to our pricing model lightly, and we never take you for granted," Evernote told its users in a blog post. "Our goal is to continue improving Evernote for the long-term, investing in our core products to make them more powerful and intuitive while also delivering often-requested new features. But that requires a significant investment of energy, time, and money. We're asking those people who get the most value from Evernote to help us make that investment and, in return, to reap the benefits that result."

Users upset about the price increases will have to decide between opening their wallets a little wider or jumping ship to another note-taking service (Microsoft OneNote makes it easy to switch), though PCMag Editors' Choice Award-winning Evernote is among the most popular.